Phonograph pickup



June 13, 1950 w. s. BACHMAN PHONOGRAPH PICKUP 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fild DQO. 29, 1945 WIHH m w h. n g w 0% ms Wm N. mm H June 13, 1950 w. s. BACHMAN 2,511,664

PHONOGRAPH PICKUP Filed Dec. 29, 1945 ZSheets-Sheet 2 Fig! 7 i Invehtor": William S. Bachmah,

H is Attorney Patented June 13, 1950 PHONOGRAPH PICKUP William S. Bachman, Southport, Conn., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application December 29, 1945, Serial No. 638,379

11 Claims. (Cl. 179-10041) fled form of my invention; Fig. 4 is an enlarged bottom plan view of the stylus member and support of the pickup of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective View of the stylus member and associated parts shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a side eleva-' tion, partly in section, of a modified form of stylus member for soundtracks of the hill and dale type; and Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective view ofseveral of the elements of the stylus member shown in Fig. 6. V

Briefly, each of the pickups'illustrated in-the drawing is provided with a stylus member arranged as a cantilever beam and having bonded thereto a fine electrical resistance wire so arand to enable the stylus point to follow the sound ranged that the wire is strained in proportion tracks accurately over the desired range of freto the vibrations of the stylus as it moves over quencies of the recorded sounds. It is desirable a record sound track. The resistance wires are also to minimize all extraneous sounds or noises arranged so that they are never strained to their and for this purpose the pickup should be deelastic limits and the variation in electrical resigned to have minimum response to mechanical sistance is directly proportional to the vibration disturbances other than the vibrations produced of the stylus, Distortion of the reproduced by the sound track. Furthermore in order to obsounds because of tone arm resonance and other tain true reproduction of the recorded sound it disturbances is minimized by damping arrangeis des a at h pi k p r sp ns curv shall ments particularly suited to the lightweight cane s nearly linear as possible within the range 535 tilever beam construction of the stylus member. of frequencies of the recorded sound. Referring now to the drawings, the pickup il- It is an object of my invention to provide a lustrated in Fig. 1 is so constructed as to make phonograph pickup including an improved vibrapossible effective damping to prevent distortions 01011 translating element of light d s mp e condue to vibrations other than those produced by struction. I the sound track. This pickup comprises a head It is another object of my invention to provide I of insulating material provided with a recess 2 a phonograph pickup employinga wire resistance at its forward end in which a supporting block transducer element including an improved ar- 3 is mounted on trunnions 4, only one of which rangement for insuring linear response within a i illu trat d Th h I is arranged t be desired range of frequencies. I cured on a phonograph tone arm (not shown) It is a further object of my invention to proin any suitable manner. Theblock 3 supports vide a phonograph pickup including an improved a resilient stylus member 5 havinga stylus point arrangement for damping low frequency vibra 6 at its end remote from the block 3. In'the tions to prevent excessive vibration of the stylus drawing, by way of example, the stylus point 6 member at the resonant frequencies of the me- 0 has been'illustrated as aseparate jewel mounted chanical parts of the pickup. in the end of the stylusmember. As shown in The novel features which are believed to be Fig. 2,the member 5'hasan upwardly projecting characteristic of my invention are set forth with lug I formed at its rear end and which is fitted particularity in the appended claims. My inveninto a circular recess8in an upright metal pivot tion itself, however,"both as to its organization member or post'9. The lug 'l' fits snugly in'the and method of operation, together with further recess 8 and is secured therein by a suitable ceobjects and advantages thereof, may best be unment, and the post 9 is pivotally mounted in the derstood by reference to the following description block 3 so that the stylus member 5 is mounted taken in connection with the accompanying 4 for rotation on either of two axes at right angles drawings in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view, to one another. The trunnions 4 of the block 3 partly in section, of a phonograph pickup emand the pivot member 9 are all lubricated with a bodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged exviscous liquid in order to provide damping action ploded view of the stylus member and support and prevent distortion due tolow velocity disof the pickup shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectional placements of the stylus member 5 The viscous side elevation of a pickup illustrating a modi- '55 liquid or damping fluid is selected so that at the velocities of the displacement produced by vibration of the stylus point in a sound track the pivot member 9 and block 3 will remain stationary; however, when displacements at lower velocities occur the pivot member and block will move and minimize strain on the stylus member. One suitable liquid for lubricating these bearings is a solution of polymerized isobutylene in mineral oil. The precise values of friction and damping effect necessary to provide the required frequency characteristics may be determined in accordance with the well-known principles of mechanics applicable to vibrating systems including elastic elements. In order to limit rotation about the trunnions 4 when the stylus 6 is bearing on the record, a spring I6 is provided between the head I and the block 3. This spring is selected to have sufficient force to counterbalance the unbalanced weight of the tone arm and maintain the stylus 6 in its desired position.

In order to reproduce electrically the vvibrations of the stylus member, resistance .wires I I are secured to the sides of the stylus member '5. and the ends of the wires adjacent the stylus point 6 are soldered or otherwise suitably securedin good electrical contact with the stylus member 5 as indicated at I2. The wire II may bemade of Nichrome or other suitable material and should be-selected to haveuniform elasticity and electrical resistance throughout its length. The diameter of the wire may be of the order 9f one one-thousandth of an inch. Each of-the'wires II has a straight portion extending along the member .5 and securely bonded tothe arm by-a resilient insulating cement indicatedat-Ili. This cement may-be any suitable resilient cementing material, such for example .as an alkyd resin.

Thestraight portions of the wires are secured on opposite sides of the stylus members 5' and thereforeonly one of the straight portions is visible in the drawing. When the stylus point 6 is vibrated, the member -5 bends and the-straight portions of the wires II, which are bonded to the member, arestrainedin proportion to the bending of themember. strained in tension andthe other in compression during the bending of the stylus member and the electrical resistances are accordingly varied oppositely. The resistance portions therefore can be connected in the electrical circuit of a suitable amplifying apparatus (not shown) to utilize the variations of resistance for the reproduction of therecorded sounds. Circuitsof this type are well vknown in the art, and one such circuit is disclosed in my aforementioned copending application. The stylus member 5 has been illustrated as having greaterdepth than-width so that-there will belittle bending of this member imthevertical plane; -however, should-the member 5-bend in thevertical plane both straight portions of the wire I I-will'be strained equally in the same direction and any variations in resistance willbe equal and may be balanced out in the electrical circuit. .In-some a-pplications,-however,it may be desirable to employ only one of the wires-II and in such case the variations due to vertical bending of the member '5 cannotbe balanced out in the electrical circuit; to overcome this difficulty, the single straight-portion of thewire is then located as nearly as possible along the neutral axis of themember -5 when considered as a cantilever beam. The neutral axis is a line along which there is no strain -in the material of the beam, the material on one side of the line being strained in compression and on the other One ofthe wire portionsis 7 recess.

side in tension. By locating the resistance wire along the neutral axis, straining of the wire is minimized.

The damping arrangement including the pivotal support of the stylus member on horizontal and vertical axes makes it possible to minimize distortions due to vibrations such as those of the pickup and associated parts at the resonant frequency of the assembly. Other low frequency vibrations, such as those due to unevenness in the surface of the record disk are also damped out.

Because the dynamic mass of the stylus is very small the pickup may be mounted on a tone arm with a very small unbalanced weight, for example a weight of the order of one-half ounce, and the stylus pointb maybe made to follow the record groove and trace the recorded vibrations with accuracy over a wide band of frequencies.

In the pickup illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 there is provided a compact arrangement for mounting a stylus member of the type employed in the pickup of Fig. 1 and including a similar dampin arrangement of the pivotal supports for the stylus member. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the pickup comprises a head I4 constructed of rigid insulating material and provided with a rectangular opening I5 extending from the top to the bottom thereof near the forward end of the head.

A rocker block I6 for supportinga stylus member I1 is pivotally mounted within the recess I5 on a shaft I8. The block I6 may be constructed of light metal, such as aluminum, and the size of the block is such that its pivotal movement within the recess I5 is limited by the walls of the A spring I9 is mounted in recesses 26 and 2| in the head I4 and block I6, respectively, and biases the block I6 forwardly in a clockwise di rection, as viewed in Fig. 3, so that the front end of the block I6 rests against the front wall of the recess I5. A drill hole 22 in the forward wall of the recess I5 is present merely because it is formed during the drilling of the recess 20 in the head at the rear wall-of the recess I5. The member I1 is mounted on an upright post 23 on washers 24 of resilient insulating material, such as the cellulose nitrate plastic sold under the trade name Pyralin. These washers hold the .post 23 in spaced relation to the sides of an upright bore 25 in the rocker block I6. A third washer 26 of the same or similar material to that of the washers 24 is provided at the lower end of the post 23 in an enlarged portion of the upright bore 25. Two washers 24 and the washer 26 provide the desired damping action to suppress undesired vibration of the stylus member. The stylus member His a forwardly extending portion of a resilient bar 21 which extends rearwardly from the post-23in a downwardly opening recess 28 in the head III-and is soldered to the lower end of a conducting metal sleeve 29, as indicated at 30. The rear end of the bar 21 is'upturned at 3| within a recess 32 in the head which serves to locate the bar during assembly of the pickup. The forward end of the stylus member I1 is provided with a suitable stylus point as indicated at 31, which may be formed on or secured to the member I! in any suitable manner. The portion of the bar 2,! between the sleeve 29 and the post 23 is bent-sinuously in a horizontal plane as indicated at 33 to provide a spring which cooperates with the spring I 9 -to determine the position of the block I6 when the stylus point 31 is resting on a record.

The details of construction of the post 23 and the method of supporting the stylus member I! respective sleeves.

are shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The post is provided with an enlarged lower end 34 of square cross section and having a shoulder 35 of oblong cross section at the top thereof. A diagonal slot 38 in the head portion 34 receives the rod 21 which is secured therein by soldering. A-metal shield 38 is secured on top of the head portion 34 and has an opening 39, indicated in Fig. 3, of the same oblong shape as the shoulder 35, the shoulder being of the same height as'the thickness of the shield 38. The oblong shape of the shoulder holds the shield in the desired position with respect to the stylus member. The shield 38 is provided with downwardly extending side members 40 which prevent injury to the member ll during handling of thepickup head. Two lengths of fine resistance wire 4| are secured to either side of the stylus member I! over a paper insulator 42 shaped as shown in Fig. 5to cover the sides of the square head 34 and of the stylus member IT. The two lengths of high resistance wire 4| are secured to metal foil ribbons43 and the wires, together with the ribbons and the paper insulation 42 are bonded to the sides of the block 34 and member I! by a suitableresilient cement. The forward ends of the wires 4| are soldered or otherwise suitably secured to the stylus member as indicated at 44. The positions of the wires 4| along the stylus member II are made alike on both sides and preferably the wires lie along the neutralaxis of the member with respect to bending in a vertical plane. This position of the wires minimizes or prevents distortion due to bending of the stylus member I! laterally in directions other than the normal direction of vibration of the styluspoint 31 when following the sound track of a record. The ribthe drawing since the View of the head M in Fig.

3 is a section along the centerlinethereof. The sleeves 46 are riveted in position on the head H in the same manner as the sleeve 29, and the wires 45 are soldered to the lower ends of the The three leads of a conventional electric circuit may thus be connected to the sleeve 29 and the two sleeves 46, the connections being the same as those for the pickup of Fig. 1.

The pressures exerted by the springs [9 and 33 are selected so that when the stylus 31 is engaging a record sound track, the block I6 will be in a position out of contact with the front and back walls'ofthe recess l5 and the springs will carry the unbalanced weight ofr th'e'tone arm. Interference between the shield 38 and ,the' bloclk, l4 is avoided .by providing a downwardly opening recess 41 at the forward endof the head .|.4 and opening into the recess I5.

Damping to prevent interference; "due" to mechanical resonance frequencies of thejpickup and associated tone arm is provided the resilient washers 24 and 26. These washers perform the function of the viscous lubricant in the pickup of Fig. 1 and prevent rotation of'the post 23 upon lateral displacement of the stylus member I! at the high velocities produced by the recorded sound track. The washers, together with the springs I9 and 33, also afford movement of the stylus member I! without vbending when low velocity forces are applied in any direction. I

In Figs. 6 and '7 there is illustrated astylus member particularly adapted for use with phonograph sound tracks of the hill and dale type. In the drawings only the stylus member has been illustrated; the attachmentof this member to a pickup head may be made in a manner similar to that employed with the pickups of Figs. 1 and 2. The pickup illustrated comprises a flat plate 48 arranged to be secured to a pickup head and having extending from the forward end thereof a triangular portion 49 which constitutes the stylus member of the pickup. The portion 49 is constructed so that its cross sectional area decreases progressively from its base toward its outer end so that when a force is applied to its outer end, bending throughout the length of the stylus member is uniform. A suitable stylus point 50 is provided at the outer'end of the member 49 and is adapted to ride in the groove of a hill and dale type phonograph recordso that the member 49 is bent as a cantilever beam in a vertical plane by vibration of the stylus point 50. In order to convert the'stylus vibrations into electrical variations, resistance wires 5| similar to the wires employed in the pickups of Figs. 1 and 3 are secured on the top and bottom sides of the member 49 with paper insulators 52 lying between the wires and the plate 48. Only the upper wires 5| and insulators 52 are shown in Fig. 7. It will be understood, however, that the lower elements are of the same construction. The wires 5| are secured to ribbons 53 similar to the ribbons 43 employed in the pickup of Fig. .4. Lateral displacements of the stylus point 50 produce substantially no bending of the member 49 because of its triangular shape and resistance to bending in a lateral direction; however, the wires 5| are so arranged that any changes in resistance due to such bending may be balanced out in the electrical circuit.

It will readily be apparent to those skilled in the art that the pickups I have illustrated and described may be arranged in many ways to utilize the features of my invention; for example, all forms illustrated may be employed either with laterally cut or hill and dale type records by arranging for vibration of the. stylus member in the required direction. I do not, therefore, desire my invention to .be limited to the particular arrangements illustrated and described and I intend by the appended claims'to cover all modifications which fall within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claimas new and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States, is:

1. A phonograph pickup comprising a supporting head, "a thin-resilient elongated stylus member having a broad face and having a' stylus point at one end, means including a pivotal connection for mounting said member on said head whereby 'said stylus point is positioned for engagement in sound track bends said member and thereby varies said resistance in proportion to the vibrations of said stylus point.

2. A phonograph pickup comprising a supporting head, an elongated stylus member having a stylus point at one end, means for mounting said member for pivotal movement in two planes at right angles to one another, said stylus point being positioned for engagement in a. record sound track and :being vibrated upon movement-over pivotal movement-of said member at .relatively :highvelocities whereby movement of said stylus over the sound track bendssaid "member and thereby varies said resistance in proportion to :the vibrations of said stylus point. r

3. A phonograph pickup comprisinga supporting head, a block. pivotally mounted on said-head 'ior movcmentabout azhorizontal artisan-elongated stylus-member pivotally mounted on'said block for: movementzabout an upright axis, said :mem-ber having 2813 1115 point on its end-"remote from said block, saidz member extending from said head to'main'tain-said styluspoint' in position for engagement with a record soundtrack whereby said stylus-point. is vibrated laterally with respect to said upright axis, an electricalresistance secured "to said 'member and arranged to be strained upon bending of said'member, means for resiliently restricting the pivotal movement -of said block, and-means for damping the pivotal movement of said member about said upright axis at relatively high-Velocities whereby move- 'ment of said stylus point over the soundtrack bends said member and thereby varies said resistance in proportion to the lateral displacement of saidstylus point.

4. Aph'onogra-ph pickup comprising a'supporting'head, -a-blockpivotally mounted onsaid head for movement about a horizontal axis, a resilient metal rod pivotally mounted on said block for movement about an upright axis, said rod having 'wherebymovement of said stylus over the sound track bends said stylus member and thereby varies said resistance in'proportion to the lateral displacement of said stylus point.

5. A phonograph pickup comprising a supporting head having a recess therein, a block arranged within said recess and pivotally mounted on said head for movement about a horizontal axis whereby the walls of said recess determine the maximum range of movement of said block, an elongated stylus member pivotally mounted on said block for movement about an upright axis,

said member having a stylus point on the end thereof remote from said block, said member extending from said head to maintain said stylus point in position for engagement with arecord sound track whereby said stylus point is vibrated laterally with respect to said upright axis upon movement over a sound track, an electricalresistance secured to said member and arranged to be strained upon bending of said member, means for resiliently restricting the pivotal movement of said block, and means for damping the pivotal movement of said member about said upright axis at relatively high velocities whereby movement of said stylus point over the sound track bends said member and thereby varies said resistance in proportion tothe lateral displacement -0f said point.

6. A vibration translating device comprising a support, anelongatedstylus member constituting a cantileverbeam connected to said support and having a stylus point on its end remote from said support, and an electrical resistance wire extending-longitudinally of said member and bonded thereto-whereby said wire is strained in accordance with vibrationsof said stylus Point and the resistance of said wire is varied in proportion tosuch vibrations, said member being formed with progressively decreasing cross sectional areas fromsaid support toward said point whereby it bends uniformlythroughout its length when said point is displaced.

7. A phonograph pickup for records of the hill and dale type comprising a supporting head, a stylus member supported at one end on said head and having a stylus pointat its other end, said member comprising a horizontal metal plate of uniform thickness secured to said head and hava triangularly shaped portion projecting from said head toward said point whereby vertical stress on said pointproduces uniform bending of said portion, and an electrical resistance wire having a length secured closely to said triangular portion of said plate whereby said length of said wire isstrained by bending of said member produced by vibration of said stylus point and the resistance of said length of wire is varied in accordance with such vibrationsproduced by movement of said stylus point along the sound track of a record of the'hill and dale type.

8 "A phonograph pickup comprising a supportinghead, a carrier member, a spring and damping means connected in parallel relationship between said member and said head for positioning said member onsaid head and for damping low velocity movement ofsaid member, a resilient stylus member secured to said carrier member and extending therefrom as a cantilever beam, said stylus member having a stylus point at its end remote from said carrier member and adapted to engage the sound track of a record, and means dependent upon vibrations of said stylus point for converting such vibrations to electrical current variations.

9. A stylus mounting for an electric translating device comprising, in combination, a thin,

flexible, relatively broad reed mounted with its broad face in a Vertical-plane and its axis in a substantially horizontal position, means for supporting'one end of said reed with its broad face in a vertical plane, and a stylus supported entirely 'by said reed near the free end thereof and with its axis located substantially in the plane of said reed 'andarranged substantially at right angles to the axis of said reed, said supporting means having a high resistance to displacement at the velocities of displacement of said stylus due to vibrations produced by a sound track, thereby substantially to prevent upward fiexure of said free end at said velocities while allowing lateral flexure thereof.

10. Astylusmounting for an electric translating device comprising, in combination, an elonities of displacement of said stylus due to vibrations produced by a sound track, thereby substantially to prevent upward flexure of said free end at said velocities while allowing lateral flexure thereof.

11. A stylus mounting for an electric translating device comprising, in combination, an elongated reed-like member arranged with its principal axis extending horizontally, means for supporting one end of said member, the supported end of said member being relatively thin horizontally and wide vertically to provide a greater degree of fiexure of said member about said supporting means horizontall than vertically, and a stylus supported entirely by said member near the free end thereof and having its axis arranged in substantially a vertical direction, said supporting means having a high resistance to displacement at the velocities ofdisplacement of said stylus due REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 22,589 Ruge Jan, 9, 1945 918,303 Ellis Apr. 13, 1909 15 1,757,547 Reuben May 6, 1930 2,252,464 Kearns Aug. 12, 1941 2,316,203 Simmons Apr, 13, 1943 2,373,676 Germeshausen Apr. 17, 1945 2,380,514 Germeshausen July 31, 1945 

